Artist: Bon Jovi
Label: Vertigo Records
Release: 1988
After the glorious breakthrough into the elite of the so-called cock rock scene of the late eighties, which Bon Jovi delivered in the form of the phenomenon Slippery When Wet, the question quickly came up: what could the boys do to top their already ruthless plundering of the world’s charts? Bon Jovi’s answer to the nasty insinuations that their huge success was a fluke is New Jersey, a sensational sequel to the hair metal fairy tale, next to which the by now rather slimy creature Slippery When Wet admittedly looks like some helpless little kid. New Jersey is an achievement worth admiring in every respect, though it could very soon turn into the final Bon Jovi act on the world’s musical stage.
Like its predecessor, New Jersey stays firmly on the rails of ear-friendly hard rock enriched with a mostly pop-oriented lyrical aftertaste, but this time with a slightly more concrete break from the carelessly sugar-coated odes to happy love stories, though of course there’s no shortage of those here either. At a time when the power ballad had become more or less an obligation for every successful band, Jon and company, hungry to instantly satisfy legions of Bon Jovi lollipop-craving teenage girls, couldn’t afford to skip experimenting with any more noticeable sonic makeovers in that department either. Which, after all, is the formula for success, and in New Jersey’s case it’s a unique step beyond the traditional power ballad form, both musically and lyrically! Here you get the excellent I’ll Be There For You, Stick To Your Guns and above all the phenomenal Living In Sin, three first-rate “TV telenovela” monsters that make the Jon–Sambora partnership one of the most poisonous of its day. And while Jon’s vocal acrobatics stay at the expected high level throughout, Sambora’s vocal contribution is no less impressive. He doesn’t shy away from confidently flaunting his independence even in the most demanding registers, so Bon Jovi pull yet another joker out of their sleeve from an already colorful family of jokers.
Of the long-awaited barrage of raw rhythms, New Jersey smacks us in the face right off the bat with Lay Your Hands On Me and Bad Medicine, two potential mega hits that, thanks to pompous choruses and extremely calculated arrangements, practically burst with enthusiasm. Accompanied by Born To Be My Baby, classic Bon Jovi poetics whose shelf life had nonetheless expired a couple of years ago, New Jersey grows unstoppably into a monster that can’t be stopped anymore. Homebound Train is a filed-down blues rock locomotive that, with its uncompromising charge through the sun-scorched wilderness of the American West, tests how you handle the intense workings of centrifugal force. Honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a track in the entire Bon Jovi catalogue that could match the energy this one radiates so proudly, especially the outstanding assault from the indestructible Sambora and Bryan, whose solos will quickly whip you around the nether regions. Homebound Train is definitely one for all you Bon Jovi haters who ever doubted the character of this extremely interesting band. The only so-called “filler” on the album is the poppy 99 In the Shade, which still wins you over with its positive vibe and romance. But the gentlemen save the best for the finale. Love For Sale is a fantastic, almost parodic raid on the redneck mindset, with Richie as chief instigator, where you can fully indulge in an unburdened acoustic discussion between perfect guitar and harmonica. A flat-out five out of five!
So with New Jersey, Bon Jovi managed to cash in on the huge success of two years earlier. The tour that followed was a rock odyssey like no other! 237 (!) shows took the lads from New Jersey to practically every hidden corner of the world, from Japan to the USA and from Mexico to the Soviet Union, by then badly eroded by Western influence. But success, of course, demanded a price. The once-solid bond between Sambora and Jon, which had been slowly but surely falling apart over the course of the tour, completely disintegrated at the very moment of Bon Jovi’s greatest triumph. Weariness, hostility and other potentially explosive situations quickly broke the band down into its elemental parts. Richie and Jon thus decided to seek salvation from their headless stumbling through the labyrinth of fame in solo projects, putting the band’s future under a big question mark. Despite all the ups and downs, though, New Jersey remains a document of astonishing character and creative power from a band that the average Bon Jovi fan today can only dream of!
Lineup
Jon Bon Jovi: vocals
Richie Sambora: guitar, backing vocals
Alec John Such: bass
David Bryan: keyboards
Tico Torres: drums
Production
Bruce Fairbairn
Tracklist
1.Lay Your Hands On Me
2.Bad Medicine
3.Born To Be My Baby
4.Living In Sin
5.Blood On Blood
6.Homebound Train
7.Wild Is The Wind
8.Ride Comboy Ride
9.Stick To Your Guns
10.I’ll Be There For You
11.99 In The Shade
12.Love For Sale
Album length: 57.38
